The New Jersey Devils headed to the City of Brotherly Love on Saturday to face their rival Philadelphia Flyers. It was a trip they’d want to forget as they fell 6-3.
Related: 4-Goal 1st Period Propels Flyers to 6-3 Win Over Devils
Even Strength Finishing Continues to Be an Issue
The New Jersey Devils came into the night just 27th in 5v5 scoring (2.07 goals per 60). Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier and Nico Hischier had a combined four goals in the last 13 games. It goes without saying that they need to step up in Jack Hughes’ absence…and tonight they did, as both Meier and Hischier found twine; the latter twice. They still lost by three. (via Natural Stat Trick)
All that shows is that it’s not just the top guys who need to regularly step up. Since Oct. 27, no team has scored fewer goals at even strength (per 60) than the Devils. They’ve continued to struggle to finish, scoring 10.69 goals below expected since that Oct. 27 date.
Tonight, it was the same story: they scored just one 5v5 goal on 2.2 expected goals.
“Yeah, [we’re searching for some chemistry]. We’re struggling to score goals and we’re obviously working on that,” said Hischier.
Believe it or not, the Devils had 10 (!!) more scoring chances than the Flyers tonight. That just shows how vital goaltending and finishing are to a team’s success.
A 26 Second-Long (Short?) Death for the Devils
When the Flyers tied it on a Noah Cates rebound goal, there was no reason for the Devils to panic as they’d played a ton of close games recently. However, panic they did, as they gave up three goals in just 26 seconds.
For that less than half-a-minute, it looked like the Flyers had turned the NHL 26 video game to rookie mode. While the Devils’ defense certainly didn’t do Jake Allen any favors, you could make a case that Allen should want a couple of those back. Per Moneypuck, those three goals came on a combined 0.16 expected goals (minus-2.84 goals above expected).
Tyson Foerster heard Frank Seravalli loud and clear!!!#Flyers #LetsGoFlyers
— Hunter Brody (@Brodes81) November 23, 2025
pic.twitter.com/OVHjkSWdtH
It’s almost remarkable how the stretch of doom was a collective effort: Dougie Hamilton and Dennis Cholowski were the defensemen on the ice for the first goal. Nine seconds later, it was Jonas Siegenthaler and Simon Nemec. 17 seconds after that, it was Brenden Dillon and Luke Hughes caught out there.
Per NHL Records, it was the fifth-fastest a team had allowed three goals in NHL history. The 1989-90 Quebec Nordiques similarly allowed three in 26 seconds to the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 27, 1990.
“Exactly who we are at this point in time is [an] inconsistent [team],” said head coach Sheldon Keefe. “There’s been stretches over this last 10 games where we’ve been right there amongst the best defensive teams in the league…and there are games we’re the worst.”
Hischier similarly didn’t hold back in his postgame presser: “We stopped competing for a bit. It’s just underneath our standard. Competing should be non-negotiable and part of our identity. You don’t need to have skill to compete.”
Silver Linings
While there wasn’t a whole lot of good for the Devils to take out of this game, a couple positive signs stood out. First, as briefly mentioned, the Devils have needed a lot more out of their top guys…Tonight, they got that as the line of Meier, Hischier and Bratt was excellent.
When all was said and done, that line out-shot the Flyers 8-3 and had double the scoring chances (6-3).
Furthermore, head coach Sheldon Keefe paired Simon Nemec with Luke Hughes in the second period. They stayed together for the remainder of the contest, where they tilted the ice: the Devils out-shot the Flyers 11-5 and outscored them 2-0 in their shifts. While it’s a small sample, given the Devils’ desperate need for offense, this pairing could potentially help the team get some of their scoring touch back.
Moving Forward
The Devils — now 13-7-1 — will return home on Monday to face the Detroit Red Wings.
